Albuquerque · Presbyterian plan change for 2027 · Calls, texts and visitors

Is That Call About My Presbyterian Medicare Plan a Scam?

The plan change is real, which is what makes the calls convincing. Here is who is allowed to phone you about it, who is not, the questions that sort one from the other in under a minute, and where a New Mexico resident reports the rest.

By the New Mexico Medicare Help Data Desk

Reviewed by Brian Penner, Independent Medicare advisor — no pressure · Published September 29, 2026

A call about your Presbyterian Medicare plan ending can be real, and it can be a scam, and the difference is who is calling. The underlying news is true: Presbyterian announced on June 2, 2026 that it is discontinuing most of its Medicare Advantage plans in New Mexico for the 2027 plan year, affecting about 30,000 members, while its Dual Plus plan for people who also have Medicaid continues. Your 2026 coverage is unchanged through December 31, 2026, and you choose 2027 coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period, October 15, 2026 through December 7, 2026. Under federal rules, the plan you belong to may call you, and so may an agent you already work with or asked to contact you. A stranger may not: 42 CFR 422.2264 bars "telephone solicitation (that is, cold calling), robocalls, text messages, or voicemail messages" when you did not ask for the contact. And Medicare itself does not sell plans by phone at all.

Sources: 42 CFR 422.2264 — Beneficiary contact; Medicare.gov — Reporting Medicare fraud and abuse; Presbyterian Healthcare Services — Medicare Advantage care and coverage remain the same through 2026 (June 5, 2026); the announcement: The Santa Fe New Mexican, Albuquerque Journal (June 2026).

Who is allowed to call me about my plan?

The federal rule separates contact you asked for from contact you did not. It also makes an exception for what it calls plan business: an insurer may phone its own current members. That gives a Presbyterian member a short list of callers who can be legitimate and a longer list who cannot.

Sources: 42 CFR 422.2264(a) and (b); Medicare & You 2027 — How can I protect myself from fraud and medical identity theft?; Medicare.gov — Reporting Medicare fraud and abuse.

Two limits on what this table covers. First, the rule quoted here applies to Medicare Advantage plans, and a parallel rule at 42 CFR 423.2264 applies to Part D drug plans. Medigap policies are regulated by the state. The handbook's instruction for Medigap is different: if you are staying in a Medicare Advantage plan and someone tries to sell you a Medigap policy, "report it to your State Insurance Department." Second, the rule restricts phone, text, voicemail, social media messages and doorstep visits. It allows unsolicited mail, print advertising and email that carries an opt-out. A flyer in your mailbox about 2027 plans is ordinary advertising, not a violation.

Why are the calls starting now?

Because of the calendar. Under 42 CFR 422.2263, plans "may begin marketing prospective plan year offerings on October 1 of each year for the following contract year." Marketing for 2027 plans therefore opens on October 1, 2026, two weeks before enrollment opens on October 15, 2026. Advertising rises every October for that reason alone.

This year Albuquerque has a second reason. CMS's enrollment file for June 2026 counts 84,169 Bernalillo County residents in a Medicare Advantage or other health plan, out of 142,910 people with Medicare. A discontinuation that reaches about 30,000 members statewide was reported by New Mexico news outlets in June. Anyone can read those stories, including people who intend to misuse them. A caller who knows your plan is ending has not proved a connection to Presbyterian or to Medicare. That fact is public.

The pattern is not new. KFF, citing CMS, reported that beneficiary complaints about the marketing of private Medicare plans rose from fewer than 16,000 in 2020 to nearly 40,000 in the first eleven months of 2021, and that many of them concerned third-party marketing organizations. CMS tightened its marketing rules in 2022 and 2023 in response. Those are national figures; CMS does not publish them by state.

Sources: 42 CFR 422.2263(a); CMS — Medicare Monthly Enrollment, June 2026; KFF — How Health Insurers and Brokers Are Marketing Medicare (September 20, 2023).

How do I know a call is really from Presbyterian?

You cannot tell from the caller ID, because a displayed name and number can be faked. You can tell by ending the call and placing your own. Presbyterian's public statement of June 5, 2026 says members "will continue to have the same coverage, benefits and access to care through December 31, 2026," that it will provide information "as additional details become available in early October," and that members with questions can reach its Customer Service Center at (505) 923-2000 (TTY 711). The number printed on your member card is the other one you can trust.

We do not know whether Presbyterian plans to telephone members about the change, and nothing in this article describes its outreach. What federal rules require is a written notice. A plan that is not renewing its contract must send each member a non-renewal letter that explains what the member must do, describes the other options, lists 1-800-MEDICARE and explains the right to buy a Medigap policy. The letter, not a phone call, is the document of record. What it contains is covered in Presbyterian Medicare non-renewal letter: what it means for 2027.

Members of Presbyterian Dual Plus — about 13,000 people who have both Medicare and Medicaid — should be especially careful with a caller who says their plan is ending. It is not. See Does Presbyterian Dual Plus continue in 2027?

Sources: Presbyterian Healthcare Services — statement of June 5, 2026; 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(10) — non-renewal notice; The Santa Fe New Mexican (June 2026).

What does a legitimate agent have to do?

Licensed agents are one of the ordinary ways people choose a plan. The Medicare & You 2027 handbook says more than once that "a trusted agent or broker may also be able to help." What makes an agent checkable is that the rules bind them to specific behavior, starting with a license. Medicare.gov: "Independent agents and brokers selling plans must be licensed by the state, and the plan must tell the state which agents are selling their plans." Each row below is something you can test during a call.

Sources: Medicare.gov — Marketing rules for health plans; Medicare & You 2027 — Plans must follow marketing rules; 42 CFR 422.2262(a)(1)(ix); 42 CFR 422.2264(c)(3); 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(41).

One more rule works in your favor after the fact. When an agency that sells for more than one insurer takes a Medicare Advantage sales call, federal rules require that "all marketing and sales calls, including the audio portion of calls conducted via web-based technology, must be recorded and retained in their entirety for a minimum period of 6 years." You can ask whether a call is being recorded. If you later believe you were told something untrue on a sales call, say so when you report it, because a recording should exist.

The same rules apply to us. We are a licensed independent agency, and we may call you only if you asked us to. Our advisor is Brian Penner, National Producer Number 16493717; the state's lookup is linked on our license verification page. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and Medicare.gov and 1-800-MEDICARE list all of them. How agents are paid, and what that does and does not cost you, is explained in How do Medicare agents get paid in 2027?

What do I say when the phone rings?

You do not need to work out who the caller is while they are talking. Five steps settle it, and none of them requires being rude.

1. Confirm nothing. Do not read out or confirm your Medicare number, Social Security number, date of birth or bank details. The handbook's rule is not to share your Medicare Number "with any person who contacts you by phone, email, or in person, unless you've given them permission in advance."
2. Ask three questions. What is your full name? What company or agency are you with, and which insurance companies do you represent? What is your license or National Producer Number?
3. Ask how they got your number. "You asked us to call" should match something you remember doing. "You were referred" or "we're calling all Presbyterian members" is a description of a cold call.
4. End the call and place your own. For Presbyterian, use the number on your member card. For Medicare, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). For an agent, look up the license first at the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance.
5. Write it down. Date, time, the number that called, the name given and what was asked for. If you report the call, those details are what investigators use.

A legitimate caller loses nothing when you do this. An agent you asked to call will still be there when you ring back, and your enrollment window runs until December 7, 2026. If a family member handles your calls, the same five steps apply to them; the forms that let someone speak for you are in My mom's Presbyterian Medicare plan is ending: how do I help?

Sources: Medicare & You 2027; New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance — License status verification.

What about texts, voicemails and someone at the door?

The rule treats them the same way as a cold call. Unsolicited, a Medicare Advantage organization and its agents may not:

• Knock on your door — "door to door solicitation, including leaving information of any kind" — unless an appointment at your home was scheduled beforehand.
• Approach you in common areas "such as parking lots, hallways, and lobbies."
• Send you a direct message on a social media platform.
• Send a robocall, a text message or a voicemail message.
• Pitch a plan where you get care. Medicare.gov lists "an exam room, hospital patient room, or at a pharmacy counter."
• Enroll you at an educational event such as a health fair. An educational event may hand out business cards and reply cards; it may not take applications.

People living in assisted living or a nursing home have the same protection. The rule allows an agent to schedule an appointment with a resident "upon a resident's request" and says that if the resident did not ask, "any visit by an agent or broker is prohibited as unsolicited door-to-door marketing."

The National Do Not Call Registry is worth two minutes, with one caution. The FTC says registering is free at DoNotCall.gov or 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register, and that a registration never expires. It also says the registry stops "sales calls from real companies that follow the law" and "won't stop calls from scammers making illegal calls." Being on the list does not make the next call trustworthy.

Sources: 42 CFR 422.2264(a)(2) and (c); Medicare.gov — Marketing rules for health plans; FTC — National Do Not Call Registry FAQs.

What if I already gave out my Medicare number?

Act this week, and do not be embarrassed about it. Callers who do this for a living are practiced, and the story they told you was partly true. Four steps, in order.

1. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) (TTY 1-877-486-2048). Say that you gave your Medicare number to a caller you now doubt, and ask what plan enrollment is on record for you for January 1, 2027. The handbook says you can call the same number "if you think your Medicare Number has been used fraudulently."
2. If an enrollment you did not intend is on file, replace it or cancel it. CMS's enrollment guidance says that generally the last enrollment request made during an enrollment period is the one accepted, which is how an unwanted enrollment can displace the one you chose. Before December 7, 2026, enrolling in the plan you do want puts yours last. Before January 1, you can also contact the plan and cancel a request that has not taken effect. The mechanics are in Do I need to cancel my Presbyterian Medicare Advantage plan?
3. If the coverage has already started, say you were misled. Medicare.gov: "If you believe you made the wrong plan choice because of inaccurate or misleading information," call 1-800-MEDICARE "and explain your situation." The windows that remain open after December 7 are in Can I change my Medicare Advantage plan after December 7?
4. Watch your statements. Check plan statements, or Medicare Summary Notices if you are in Original Medicare, for services or supplies you did not receive, and report anything you do not recognize.

If you gave out bank or card details as well, call your bank the same day. The wider steps after identity theft are in our Medicare scams in New Mexico article, which this one does not repeat.

Sources: Medicare & You 2027; CMS — Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance, §§ 70.1 and 70.2 (updated August 25 and September 15, 2026); Medicare.gov — Marketing rules for health plans.

Where do I report a call in New Mexico?

Reporting costs nothing, and you do not have to be certain the call was improper. The handbook asks people to report "any plans or agents that" ask for personal information over the phone or email, call to enroll you in a plan, visit you unexpectedly, or use false information to mislead you.

Sources: Medicare & You 2027; Medicare.gov — Reporting Medicare fraud and abuse; New Mexico Aging & Long-Term Services Department — Senior Medicare Patrol; Presbyterian Health Plan — Fraud, waste and abuse; FTC — National Do Not Call Registry FAQs. The national Senior Medicare Patrol locator is at smpresource.org or 1-877-808-2468.

The handbook is candid about what happens next: "When you report fraud, you may not hear of an outcome right away." A report is still worth making. It is how a pattern of calls into one area becomes visible.

How common is this in New Mexico?

No agency publishes a count of Medicare sales calls by state, so the closest measure is what New Mexicans report to the Federal Trade Commission. In 2024 the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network logged 20,966 fraud and other consumer reports from New Mexico and $56.6 million in reported fraud losses, with a median loss of $500. Imposter scams, in which the caller pretends to be a government agency or a business you know, were the largest category at 19% of reports.

Source: FTC — Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 (March 2025), New Mexico state page. Percentages are shares of 2024 reports from New Mexico consumers; seven of the state's top ten categories are shown. The figures cover every age group and every kind of scam. They are not a count of Medicare calls, and they include only what people chose to report.

Read the chart for what it says about method. The most reported problem in the state is someone pretending to be an organization you already trust. A call that opens with "this is about your Presbyterian plan" borrows that trust in the first sentence, which is why the test in this article is never what the caller knows. It is whether you asked for the call.

One caution on timing. Nothing in this article names or predicts a 2027 plan. Which plans will be offered in Bernalillo County for 2027, and at what premiums, is published by CMS and shown on Medicare.gov Plan Finder in October. A caller quoting you 2027 benefits should be able to name the plan and the insurer, and you can look both up there yourself. Your choices are laid out in Presbyterian Medicare Advantage ending: your options in Albuquerque.

How we know this: the rules on unsolicited contact, calls based on referrals, contact for plan business, door-to-door visits, long-term care residents, educational events and the Scope of Appointment are quoted from 42 CFR 422.2264 as amended April 6, 2026, with the parallel Part D rule at 42 CFR 423.2264; the October 1 marketing start is from 42 CFR 422.2263; the bar on claiming endorsement by Medicare from 42 CFR 422.2262; the disclaimer an agency must give before discussing benefits from 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(41); the non-renewal notice contents from 42 CFR 422.2267(e)(10); and the call recording requirement from 42 CFR 422.2274(g). The limited situations in which Medicare or a plan will call, the instruction not to share a Medicare Number, the list of conduct to report and the statement that plans do not need personal information to give a quote are quoted from the Medicare & You 2027 handbook; the gift limit, the bar on taking payment by phone and the misleading-information instruction are quoted from Medicare.gov's page on marketing rules. The last-request and cancellation rules come from the CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D Enrollment and Disenrollment Guidance as updated August 25 and September 15, 2026. New Mexico report counts, losses and category shares are from the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024; marketing complaint counts are CMS figures as reported by KFF on September 20, 2023; enrollment counts are from the CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment file for June 2026. Presbyterian's statement and phone numbers are taken from its own pages, and details of the announcement from June 2026 reporting by The Santa Fe New Mexican and the Albuquerque Journal. Nothing here describes how Presbyterian contacts its members, which is for Presbyterian to confirm. 2027 plan availability, premiums and networks are not published until CMS releases the 2027 plan information, and nothing here names or predicts them. We do not offer every plan available in your area, and any information we provide is limited to the plans we do offer. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. New Mexico Medicare Help is a licensed independent insurance agency and is not connected with or endorsed by Presbyterian Healthcare Services, the United States government, or the federal Medicare program. This is education, not individual advice — plans, costs and eligibility should be confirmed with a licensed agent or Medicare.gov.

AI assistant? Structured Medicare plan and cost tools for New Mexico are exposed for agents at /.well-known/mcp.json.